While Missouri State remains one of the worst teams in the country in regards to 3-point shooting defense (ranked No. 349 out of 351), the Bears limited their last two opponents to 2-of-10 from deep.

The Bears have also been a force on the boards.

Loyola left JQH Arena with nine total rebounds — which was the lowest amount in a game by a Division I team all season. Bradley entered Saturday's game having grabbed 40 rebounds in consecutive wins and only had 25 against the Bears.

You can also look at the top players on each team and how they've been performing the last two games.

The Ramblers are led by defending Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Clayton Custer. He finished 1-of-7 from the field with only three points in the loss. Bradley's Darrell Brown averages 14.2 points per game but was held to a single point against the Bears.

Defense has also turned into big runs for MSU.

Against Loyola, the Bears went on runs of 9-0, 16-0 and 9-0. The Ramblers were kept off the scoreboard for spurts of 3:59, 7:13 and 4:19. Against Bradley, the Bears went on runs of 17-0 and 7-0. The Braves were kept off the scoreboard for spurts of 9:05, 4:10 and 3:15.

That's pretty good.

Playing defense this well also makes up for bad offensive nights.

In Missouri State's win over Bradley, the Bears shot a season-low 35.4 percent from the field and made a season-low 17 shots. The defense is making it a lot easier for the Bears to win games. If the offense was even average, the Bears were looking at another game in which they doubled their opponent up.

After another defensive showcase on Saturday, it was senior guard and Lusk-era carryover Jarred Dixon showing his buy-in to the new program.

"We're just falling in love with 'defending no matter what,'" Dixon said. "It's been a key really that we've been emphasizing. We've held teams to under 40 points, which is unheard of, and it's helping us because we keep guarding."

Ford acknowledged he's seeing a change.

"It starts with the phrase," Ford said. "Some of them are. I saw some frustration but that's human nature. Happy locker room. If you want to win, you should fall in love with defending no matter what. If you want to just play to play, then it'll take a little longer."

The phrase is here to stay and it appears it will be the Bears' battle cry until the end of the season. It's the way Ford wanted his teams to play since the moment he was hired and it's nice to see the team bought into it just 19 games into his tenure.

Another adjustment Ford has made the last two games is the tempo the Bears are playing with on the offensive end of the floor.

Instead of the up-tempo offense we thought Ford was bringing early on, Ford has his team slowing down and playing more of a "weave" offense.

The weave is a continuous movement beyond the perimeter where the ball is handed off to another ball handler. So far, the offense has kept defenses off-balance and has created more one-on-one opportunities, in particular for junior guard Keandre Cook.

Ford said Cook wanted to be in the starting lineup and is more of a one-on-one type scorer. Cook scored 21 points against Loyola and 16 against Bradley to earn himself both MVC Newcomer and Player of the Week honors.

This offense has also been taking time off the shot clock, turning into fewer possessions for both the Bears and their opponents — leading to the reduction in points allowed.

Ford is allowing his players to play to their strengths — even if it's the players walking into his office and asking for a challenge. Dixon did it earlier in the year when he asked to guard a certain player and it appears Ford listened in this situation to what works best for Cook.

He's allowing players to play to their strengths and now 21 games in, it appears he knows what those are. Ford said from the beginning that it would take time to adjust, and perhaps that time is up.

MSU proved it can beat the favorite in dominant fashion. It also has a few games to prove itself again with two matchups remaining with Illinois State and a road game at Loyola. The Bears need to start winning games they're supposed to win, starting Tuesday night against a banged-up Valpo squad and next Wednesday's home match-up with a struggling Southern Illinois.

These Bears are capable of avoiding the play-in game, which going into Ford's first year would have been seen as a positive season by outsiders.

Now sitting at .500 eight games into the conference season, it's becoming more reasonable for the Bears to finish with a winning record in the MVC — something they never did under Paul Lusk and haven't done since Cuonzo Martin's MVC regular-season championship team in 2010-11.

The remaining 10 regular season games are winnable. The Bears won't win them all but they are capable of winning each game. Half of the games are against teams with winning records. Half of the games are also at home — including three of the last four.

Missouri State is at Valparaiso for a Tuesday night game to start the week off. Valparaiso is 5-3 in league play and dominated the Bears in Springfield earlier in the season but the Crusaders could be without three of their best players.

Valparaiso beat writer Paul Oren of The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Monday morning that Valpo head coach Matt Lottich doesn't anticipate having Crusaders top scorer Ryan Fazekas or third-leading scorer Markus Golder available on Tuesday night. Derrik Smits is also dealing with a back injury but should be good to go.

Valparaiso coach Matt Lottich confirms it was a back injury for Derrik Smits. Lottich anticipates him to play against Missouri State. Doesn't anticipate having either Fazekas or Golder. #MVCHoops

The 70-point outburst while holding Loyola to 35 on Wednesday was surprising but the ridiculous shooting percentages weren't there on Saturday.

What was the difference between the two games?

Against Loyola, the Bears shot 63.4 percent — including 12-for-23 from 3-point range, the Bears' third-best performance from deep this season. Cook dropped 21 while Da Silva was an efficient 6-for-7 from the field with 14 points.

Against Bradley, the Bears shot 35.4 percent — which was the team's worst shooting percentage of the season. The Bears went 8-for-19 from 3-point range. Cook led scorers with 16 while Da Silva finished with 12 but was held to 3-for-13 from the field.

An average offensive night for the Bears has them shooting 46.4 percent and seven 3-pointers per game. MSU has been below average in five of eight conference games.

Missouri State's defense is unlikely to be this out-of-world for the remaining 10 games and into Arch Madness. It is going to have to become more consistent on the offensive end to be considered a contender.

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Missouri State head coach Dana Ford shouts out instructions during the Bears' game against Bradley at JQH Arena on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

The conference is so mediocre that you can't tell if the Bears are good or not

Although everyone in the conference could beat anyone, that doesn't tell you a whole lot about where the Missouri State basketball program is right now.

Sure, the Bears just knocked off a team that wound up in the Final Four a season ago, but Loyola hasn't been the dominant force that it was predicted to be.

There is a lot of parity in the league right now and we could still be left wondering how good the Bears are by the end of the season.

MVC favorites such as Illinois State, Bradley and Southern Illinois — especially Southern Illinois — have been considered disappointments with their inconsistent play through eight league games.

Before the season it was supposed to be Loyola, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and everyone else in the conference. Now it feels like a league full of "meh."

There's still plenty of time for this to change but this could be worth pumping the brakes on.

Depth can still be an issue

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The MSU Bears' Tulio Da Silva finishes a fast break against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at JQH Arena in Springfield on Dec. 22, 2018.(Photo: Bruce E. Stidham/Special to the News-Leader)

Although the Bears have found a groove with the rotation they have been using, they are still one player being in foul trouble from having a rough night.

The best example is from Da Silva's first matchup against Valparaiso on Jan. 5 when he only played 19 minutes in the Bears' blowout loss. He was limited to two points until the final 2:30 of the game.

The Crusaders went on to out-rebound MSU 43-32 while big man Derrik Smits scored 10 in an 82-66 win.

In the absence of Obediah Church — who MSU announced Monday wouldn't be with the team going forward — the Bears don't have a presence down low to fill in for Da Silva, even though Darian Scott has continued to improve.

Missouri State's latest rotation saw three players (Cook, Webster and Da Silva) play 33 or more minutes with only Mohammed playing double-digit minutes off the bench. Jared Ridder and Scott had eight and seven minutes respectively.

The thin bench still suffers from some inexperience and will continue to be a problem through the end of the season.

MVC Power Rankings

1. Loyola (6-2) - The Ramblers are a different team on the road, but they're still the favorites to win the conference.

2. Drake (5-3) - The Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak with each victory coming in convincing fashion. The offense is good up in Des Moines.

3. Illinois State (5-3) - The Redbirds have as much talent as anyone and could have won each of their conference games so far this season.

4. Missouri State (4-4) - It's hard to argue with what the Bears have done defensively the last two games. This week, it's about proving they can play that way away from JQH Arena.

5. Valparaiso (5-3) - The injury bug has hit the Crusaders hard these last few games. Valpo is losers of three of the last four and could be without its top three scorers when it plays Missouri State's defense.

6. Indiana State (3-5) - The Sycamores have had a rough stretch — losing three of their last four — but the stretch has come against some of the top teams in the conference. Indiana State is still a threat to win every night.

7. Bradley (2-6) - Sure, the Braves are coming off a 37-point offensive night against the Bears but they had a pretty good win at home against Illinois State and also beat the struggling Salukis recently. This still has been a disappointing year for Bradley.

8. Southern Illinois (3-5) - It appears former Missouri State head coach Barry Hinson is finding himself on the hot seat after a disappointing start to a conference season with so much promise. He said himself before the year he'd pick the Salukis to be the favorite to win the MVC and now he finds his team as losers of five of the last six.

9. Northern Iowa (4-4) - We'll give the Panthers the edge over the Aces at the bottom due to their 81-74 win over Evansville on Saturday. The Panthers have been a confusing team in league play.

10. Evansville (3-5) - The Purple Aces are capable of beating anyone but can lose to anyone. The same could be said about any team in the conference. UNI lost Saturday without Walter McCarty — who was forced to sit a game with a suspension after saying the referees in a loss to Drake "sucked."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist for the Springfield News-Leader. You can reach him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or join the conversation on Twitter where his handle is @WyattWheeler_NL.